


it's a little cold in paradise tonight

by managician



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Drowning, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Unhappy Ending, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Rare Pair Week (2019), there are some tidbits of fluff but rest assured i suffered for the majority of this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 09:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19765678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/managician/pseuds/managician
Summary: They were never free, Serena knows. They were all but caged birds in a moonlit flask, spending their days away in a closed off tower and awaiting the hazy fate that was sure to befall them....It was nice, though. The illusion that they'd had the chance to be happy and fall in love.





	it's a little cold in paradise tonight

**Author's Note:**

> For day 5 of the ARC Rarepair Week. Today's prompt was Regret and I don't know if I managed to convey it particularly well, but I'm pretty satisfied with this as it's probably the only thing I'll be able to publish for the week. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story!

“Let me go!” Serena uselessly screams for the gazillionth time, kicking the air in an attempt to free herself from the firm grab of the Obelisk Force’s soldiers. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could she go and get herself taken back to this hellhole? She was supposed to have freedom now. She was a proud Lancer, she wanted to go back with her team…

A chill goes down her spine as she realises the room they’re taking her to — The Professor’s headquarters. 

She tries to put on a firm face as they carry her inside. She can’t let herself be fearful. Academia feeds off fear, after all. 

The man looks at her with what could be called disappointment. He’s always looked at her like that; she’s used to it, it’s okay, this isn’t scary. 

“Let me go,” Serena says again. “I’ll never work for you!”

The Professor shakes his head solemnly. “Someday, you’ll come back to your senses. Place her in Ruri’s tower in the meantime.”

Ruri. Ruri was… Kurosaki’s sister.

One of the soldiers looks unsure. “Are you completely sure, sir? They could try to plot an escape plan…”

“Do you think that broken girl has any hopes of escaping by now? Placing her with Rin would be a danger, she’s way more capable.”

That shuts the soldier up and gets him to agree with his orders. The Professor’s orders are still absolute, it seems.

Serena feels somewhat uneasy as they escort her to the tower. It’s a tall and menacing building, surrounded by a fill of endless staircases that give it a sense of isolation. 

Poor Ruri looks really startled when they open the door; her eyes glimmer with hope for a second, and Serena clenches her fist as she sees the cruel realisation settle in those pink eyes.

“You’re… Rin?” Ruri asks, still with the tiniest bit of longing reflected in her expression.

The soldiers let her go and close the door wordlessly.

“Serena,” she breathes out. “I’m Serena.”

“...Oh. I’m… Sorry.”

She looks like she’s about to collapse on the floor just from hearing her name.

Serena awkwardly approaches her; she still hasn’t gotten a real hang on how to comfort people well, but she can very well give it a try.

“Are you okay…? Do you know her?”

“I do,” she nods weakly. “When I first got taken here, we… We were in a cell together, for a while. She always tried to be strong for me. But then we were put on these towers, all alone…”

“I’m sorry,” Serena says, because there’s nothing either of them can do beyond hoping she’s okay. 

“It’s alright… It’s just, when I saw your face, I thought... “ she shakes her head. “I didn’t know there was someone else.”

“There’s four of us,” Serena clarifies. “Yuzu’s the missing one.”

“You know her?”

“I met many people when I travelled dimensions,” she crosses her arms. “I… I found Kurosaki, too. He’s been trying so hard to—”

“Nii-san?!” Ruri asks, alarmed. “Is he okay? How did you meet him? Did you travel to Heartland too? How is Yuto—”

“One question at a time,” Serena can’t help but smile just a bit.

Seems they’ll have a lot of catching up to do.

* * *

On some days it’s okay. 

They sit on Ruri’s bed and talk about nothing and everything, or Ruri suggests a new hairstyle to try out with Serena’s hair, or Serena explains tidbits of her journey while Ruri lets out a small laugh and sighs dreamily.

Ruri likes leaning against the wall when she rests, so she always takes that side while Serena struggles to not fall out of the bed. 

It is meant for a single person after all; Academia hadn’t bothered bringing another one in, so Serena had suggested that she could sleep in the floor, but Ruri looked horrified and told her that the bed was big enough for two people.

So Serena grows the habit of tuning her breathing to Ruri’s peaceful snores, letting a dreamless sleep take her through the night, Ruri snuggling up to her to huddle for warmth. 

They always sleep with the lights on, though — they're both tired of darkness.

And some other days it's not okay.

The peaceful snores aren’t there; they’re replaced by ragged breathing as Ruri fiddles with the bedsheets, eyes shut in a pained expression with sweat dripping down her face.

Serena doesn't know how to deal with nightmares, not at all; but her chest tightens in fear and so she stays at her side, waiting for the poor girl to come back to her.

Or at the very least, she tries to be there. The helplessness is too much for Serena to bear, but it's not as if she has anywhere to run to. 

It's… Strange, admitting defeat so easily, and yet she doesn't think she has the power to fight impossible battles. Not anymore.

And when Ruri wakes up, she burns. Burns, burns with ugly hatred that fills her broken pink eyes with crystal tears and drags her into a dark bottomless abyss.

Serena falters. It's terribly unsettling to see such an expression on a mirage of her own face. Academia soldiers have to be strong and brave, showing no remorse as they push forward for what they believe is a rightful cause.

That's what she has known all her life…

Some part of her feels like wiping that hollow and broken look off Ruri's face. To punch it away, make it stop — why is this girl still so weak? She's been here for a long time. How much longer will she weep? 

And yet… A small tug at her heart makes Serena all aware of how much she wants to cry, too. 

She hates the feeling of weakness. It's unfamiliar and it frightens her to the core.

Everything she shares with Ruri has always been like threading into the unknown. Even in these circumstances, she's provided a sense of comfort, of _home_ that Serena has never known.

But Serena knows that she should stay away from her, push these unnamed emotions down into a grave so she can forget everything that shouldn't hurt.

Ruri's an XYZ refugee and she's from Academia. Even if Serena isn’t affiliated with them anymore, that's the unrelenting, harsh truth; a truth that was supposed to have built a wall of strain and fear between them.

If that wall ever existed, Serena makes sure to tear it apart when she closes the gap between her and Ruri and, with a foreign gentleness that she has never put to use, pulls the girl close into a careful embrace.

"Let it out, Ruri… I'm here for you."

She should scold her, maybe, but Ruri buries her nose in her shoulder and heaves out such a desperate sob that Serena can't find it in herself to say anything.

* * *

"I don't want to die, Serena."

Her voice is but a feeble whisper, words getting lost under the weight of soldier footsteps. 

They won't be able to hide here for long. There are only so many rooms in this damned school; running away from one to another will only derail the inevitable.

"I want the three of us to get out. I want to see Nii-san and Yuto and… I want to meet Yuya and Yuzu, I want to wear my favorite dress again, I want to ride on a D-Wheeler with Rin…"

Ruri bites her lip, grief overcoming her features.

Rin… Rin's already gone. 

They both know that. They've seen her gaze, completely devoid of any warmth, arm carrying an Academia Duel Disk, and they knew they lost her.

They're the next on the line.

Serena clutches her hand tightly as Ruri continues her endless ramble. More and more names that Serena has never heard of keep coming from her mouth; Sayaka, Allen, Kaito… but when Ruri mentions Dennis of all people, Serena's once again aware of how little and how much she knows about Ruri at the same time.

She regrets they didn't have more time to talk to each other; more time for her to play with Ruri's hair as the XYZ girl gives some mindless humoristic explanation of Kurosaki's antics, without any other care in the world.

They were never free, she knows. They were all but caged birds in a moonlit flask, spending their days away in a closed off tower and awaiting the hazy fate that was sure to befall them.

...It was nice, though. The illusion that they'd had the chance to be happy and fall in love.

If they can't keep themselves alive without losing everything that makes them be, then Serena will cling onto that fake sense of delight with all her might.

She squeezes Ruri's hand, though she's not sure if she's trying to reassure the girl or herself.

"Ruri, I don't want to become like Rin. I think… I think that's a fate worse than death. We'll hurt ourselves, and our friends."

"I know," Ruri says very quietly. 

"We can't escape from Academia."

"I know."

"And unless we do something, we're gonna get caught soon."

Ruri lowers her gaze, fingernails tightly digging into the fabric of her worn-out pants. She's smart enough to have figured out what Serena is trying to get to.

They can't make it out, but if they don't want to get caught… They'll need to disappear.

"But… What can we do?" she trembles.

"We just need to get to the port of the island. If we're careful, we might be able to avoid the Obelisk Force long enough. It's not far from here."

"...I feel weak. I don't think I'll be able to keep up with you, Serena."

Serena herself can tell, too. Ruri's… tired. More tired than anyone should ever be. 

With all hopes of escape — of _life_ — gone, the only thing her words can carry anymore is the harsh weight of reality.

In a way or another, she's going to die today. And she's… Accepted it.

"I can't — I won't leave you here," Serena insists nevertheless, urgency flashing in her eyes. "Don't let go of my hand. Just run the fastest you can. It'll be over before you notice."

"Just… Run." Ruri quietly repeats to herself, taking in a sharp breath before nodding. "Okay… Okay, Serena. Let's run. Together."

Serena's lips let out a sigh of relief. She curls her fingers even tighter around Ruri's hand, ignoring the small somersault her stomach does when the girl squeezes back.

They prepare themselves to dash as soon as it's convenient, crawling next to the classroom's door.

Serena still has experience from when she was little; always sneaking outside, taking the best routes to avoid getting found by any soldier. Academia might have the number advantage, but nobody knows these corridors as well as she does.

"Ready?" she asks her companion, if only for the sake of it. No matter her answer, they'll need to go.

"As ready as I can be," Ruri says, managing to give a faint smile.

And so they run. 

It doesn't take long for them to have an Obelisk Force squad point their Duel Disks at them. Serena would love to beat them into a pulp, though she doesn't exactly have the time, and the Professor confiscated both her and Ruri's Duel Disks, anyway. 

She limits herself to keep moving forward, making sure Ruri remains close to her because that's all she really has the power to do right now. 

It's not the same as when she was running away with Reiji, all those years ago — back then, she thought he had a boat ready.

She thought she'd get to be free.

Well… Serena supposes that she's running towards freedom now, too, in some convoluted way.

They don't move nearly as fast as Serena would've liked; they're both physically and emotionally exhausted and there's only so much Serena can do to keep Ruri going. But for once, the goddess of fortune seems to smile down at them and decide that they're doing enough.

They pull through and make it to the port. 

The saline smell fills the air and gives Serena a sense of melancholy. She's stood at this very place so many times, reaching her hand out towards the sky and wondering when would she be able to leave this place.

Despite everything, a tired grin makes its way to her face. It's the last time she'll be here.

Wordlessly, the two girls step closer to the edge. The ocean waves strike ferociously; no matter how good of a swimmer you were, it'd be impossible to not drown in such a strong current.

Serena tunes out the distant yelling, surely coming from the Obelisk Force, and takes a moment to focus on Ruri, and Ruri only.

She really is beautiful.

"I'm glad you're here with me," Serena says at last.

"Yeah… Me too."

"...I'll count to three, and then we jump?"

Ruri doesn't say anything, but she nods.

Serena breathes in. She knows it's not necessary, Ruri will go with her whether she counts or not, but for some reason, she wants to. It makes it feel like they're going to take a dive at a pool together, and it's so much easier to think of that, maybe.

"You know… I think I could have loved you, Serena."

Her eyes are glassy with unshed tears that she's been holding back all the way here, but despite everything she's smiling, smiling and giving Serena such a kind and honest look that she also feels something prickling on the corner of her eyes.

And Serena thinks so, too.

"I haven't kissed anyone before."

"Me neither," Ruri mutters, already lunging for her lips.

Their noses clash uncomfortably until Serena figures out that she has to tilt her head to the side. Ruri's kiss is just like her, soft and delicate but also needy and pushy and too short, way too short.

Just as Serena hasn't had more time to know Ruri better, they don't have time for another kiss, either.

It's cruel, Serena thinks. There's so much more they could've done. But fate has never been merciful to either of them, has it? 

That may be her biggest regret.

There aren’t cop outs this time. No Reiji, no Yuya, no Reira or Tsukikage to save them. It's — it's real.

"I'm really glad I got to met you," Ruri says to her, and Serena doesn't say it back because she knows that actions always speak louder than words.

Still, even when she can feel her vision fading and the water doesn't let her breathe anymore, Serena decides to cherish those words, as they're the last she'll ever hear.

She closes her eyes and doesn't open them again. They're a good send-off. 


End file.
